Bill 434.

Summary.

The bill regulates the use of smartphones, cell phones, electronic tablets, and similar devices in public and private educational institutions at the basic, lower secondary, and upper secondary levels. Its stated aim is to reduce device use during classes to improve students’ attention and learning. It also seeks to decrease excessive use of cyberspace during class hours, address school cyberbullying, prevent risks to students’ mental health, and promote healthy educational environments. These aims frame the measures governing devices during teaching and learning.

The Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educación) would implement the rules in the schools covered by the bill. Those institutions would restrict the use of smartphones and other similar electronic devices during classroom teaching and learning, unless their use is guided toward developing competencies under a curriculum duly approved by the Ministry of Education. The restriction would exempt students who require special attention and whose health condition justifies use of an electronic device. It would also cease to apply when the school expressly permits the device solely for academic use. Permitted classroom use would therefore depend on the approved curriculum, a justified health need, or the institution’s express authorization for academic purposes.

Principals of public and private schools would establish protocols to comply with the proposed rules. Those protocols would set measures for imposing sanctions according to the criteria of gradual application, reasonableness, and proportionality. The bill would also direct the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud) to promote nationwide awareness campaigns on the appropriate use of smartphones, cell phones, electronic tablets, and other electronic devices. Every public or private institution at the covered levels would have to display a sign at an entrance, in a place visible to its students. The sign would state that students’ use of cell phones during class hours is restricted unless the educational authority expressly authorizes it. This posting requirement would cover basic, lower secondary, and upper secondary schools throughout the country.

The Ministry of Education would have a period of no more than three (3) months from promulgation to issue implementing regulations for the proposed law. The bill provides that it would take effect upon promulgation. The public bodies connected with its provisions are the Ministry of Education, which would implement and regulate the restrictions, and the Ministry of Health, which would take part in the campaigns. The content could interest or affect public and private schools, their principals, students, and school communities at the basic, lower secondary, and upper secondary levels, as well as the education sector involved in the academic use of electronic devices.